Switched
by SecretAgent013
Summary: "Ugh," Tim came to. His reaction was almost comical as he saw Damian tied to the bed. Realizing he was tied himself, he searched the room till his eyes rested on Dick and Jason. All while Damian was staring at him. -The boys have gotten into mischief before, but nothing quite like this...and its going to take their combined effort to keep this secret from...well...everyone.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Everyone! So I'm back to the virtual world of the living (after how many months?) Thanks to all of you wonderful people who've favorite/commented/followed my other story Dam You Auto-Resurrect! I was totally not expecting that! For those of you who have requested a follow up chapter…it's coming X) **

**As for this story…the idea snuck up on me, and I'm going to use the first few chapters as test chapters to see how it takes. Let me know! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters…yet? **

"Do we tie them up?"

The two figures were peering down on the bed, where two unconscious boys lay. The only light illuminating the room came from the closet, so as to not attract any unwanted attention.

"We had better, otherwise I'd end up without a bedroom." Dick said.

"I think that will be inevitable when these two wake up." Jason drawled.

Dick threw him a quick glance before looking hurriedly away and stared intently ahead while tying Tim to a chair. Jason didn't blame him.

As a kid, he learned to survive on the streets. As a pre-teen he trained with _the _Batman. Then he proceeded to die at the hands of a maniac, and to top it off, he came back to life. To say Jason Todd learned how to survive in the world would be the understatement of the century.

But none of that prepared him for this situation. In fact, nothing of his previous experiences gave him any clue as how to handle such a predicament.

He glanced over his shoulder at Dick, not looking at him for too long. At least he wasn't the only one unnerved. He moved to tie up the brat, when he had finished he ran a hand through his hair, froze, and quickly brought his hand down.

"What the heck do we do now?" He hissed at Dick double checking his handiwork. He had tied Damian to the bed post (albeit using more rope than necessary) and was confident the binds would hold. What he wasn't sure of was whether or not Dick's bed was safe, but he didn't feel that it was necessary to bring that point up at that time.

Dick was pacing, and Jason made it a point to look anywhere but at him. They were back in Dick's bedroom now after their little escapade. The two oldest boys had miraculously managed to avoid Alfred when entering the manor, the unconscious boys, Tim and Damian, slung over their shoulders.

"Maybe we should give them some anesthetics so they stay asleep for a while longer?" Dick suggested. Jason scoffed. If Dick was suggesting such a ridiculous solution, then he was freaking out more than Jason had originally assumed.

"That will only prolong our problems, not solve them. Especially when they find out we drugged them." Jason stated, causing Dick to look guilty, which was awkward to see.

"Technically we knocked them out so they wouldn't make matters worse." Dick countered and Jason rolled his eyes.

"That's just a fancy way of saying 'we hit them on the head,'" Jason's words were laced with sarcasm, and for a brief moment he thought he saw irritation flash across Dick's face, but he couldn't be sure.

"Fine, but that still leaves us with this mess."

"Let's just roll with it. They are brothers after all, maybe that'll mean something." Jason froze the minute the words left his mouth. _Has Dick infected me more than I originally knew? _He panicked. He caught Dick staring at him eerily, obviously thinking the same thing.

"What?" _Say it out loud. I dare you. _Just as he thought, Dick avoided it completely. Not that he wouldn't do the same thing in this situation.

"Since when has that stopped them from trying to kill each other?" Dick waved to the two unconscious boys. "I think we need to contact Bruce now."

"Hello bird brain, we don't even know where he is." Jason stated angrily, then lowered his voice. "He took off for his little –I'm-the-Batman-I-must-go-brood-then-save-the-world gigs."

Dick glared at him, and Jason broke eye contact. "Regardless, this is getting ridiculous." He muttered.

There was silence for a bit, before Dick naturally perked up. "Right, all we need to do is find a way of preventing Damian and Tim from killing each other until Bruce shows up." he reasoned.

"_I'm _gonna kill that brat when he wakes up." Jason growled, being reminded why they were in this mess to begin with.

"Well if you wanted to do that you'd actually end up—"

"I know, I know!" Jason threw his arms in the air. Man that was just way too weird.

"Besides, we all got into this mess on our own accord." Dick was now massaging his left shoulder. The shoulder he fell on when the room exploded.

_That had better not be a big injury, _Jason thought, before retorting "Really? Because I'm pretty sure I was blackmailed int—"

"Blackmailed?" Dick asked, an all too familiar sneer on his face. Jason turned away. He was too tired to argue. An unusual amount of fatigue was making it hard to think straight.

"Regardless," he switched conversations. "How are we going to explain this?"

"We can't let this slip!" A look of panic set on Dick's face as he sprang off the chair he was sitting on. "Do you realize what that would mean? It would be the end of us! We would never be looked at the same way again – our lives would be over!"

"Your life maybe - I can make this really difficult for you," Jason grinned. Dick narrowed his eyes.

"Right, like I can't turn your world upside down either," He shot back.

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be in this bloody mess!"

"Way to go shoving the blame on someone else…I never forced you to come. In fact, if I recall correctly you mentioned something about it having the potential of being _entertaining._ Now you get to eat your words!" Jason really hated it when Dick was right. The two were in a stand-off of glares, ignoring the growing discomfort of staring at each other, until a noise distracted them.

Just then Damian started to stir. The older boys froze, neither one having any idea on how to break the news to the ten-year-old. They both shot a glance around the room, as if their answer lay amongst the overstocked piles of paperwork, ripped sheets of forgotten phone numbers written in gel pens, and laundry.

"What's going on?" Damian started to look around. Realizing he was tied up, a look of anger came across his face. "Grayson, I demand to know—" He froze, seeing Tim starting to stir. Suddenly the color drained from his face, before he whipped his head back towards Jason and Dick, both of whom were still standing unsure of what to do.

"Yup. This is the worst thing ever." Dick muttered under his breath.

"Ugh." Tim came to. His reaction was almost comical as he saw Damian tied to the bed. Realizing he was tied himself, he searched the room till his eyes rested on Dick and Jason. All while Damian was staring at him.

"Why are there two—" He stopped suddenly, eyes going wide.

"Grayson. I demand an explanation. Untie me from these ridiculous bounds and allow me to desecrate this imposter…or…clone." Damian snarled, an expression the other three were completely unaccustomed to seeing on his face.

"Well…you see…"Dick wasn't sure where to begin.

"Shut up Todd, I asked Grayson." Damian interrupted. Dick and Jason exchanged a glance when Tim let out a strangled sound.

"Oh no. Ohnoohnoohnoohno."

"WHAT IS—"

"It's me. I'm Tim!" Tim yelled. Tim, who sounded uncannily like Damian. Damian froze.

"What?" his voice contained confusion. Then he looked down at himself, back up at Tim, then between Dick and Jason. Dick's face held Jason's signature smirk, while Jason was looking worried. Wait, did he see that correctly? That's when it clicked…

"….Drake?" Damian said slowly staring at his body at the other end of the room. Then his expression joined that of Tim's, as all the color drained from his face.

"Yup, this lovely adventure of yours has left us…" Dick trailed off.

"Switched." Tim sounded like a strangled horse.

"It's the freakiest thing ever." Jason agreed.

There was a moment of silence. Then, in the seconds that followed Jason realized why he used so much rope when tying Damian down.

"Get him out of me!" Tim hollered just as Damian tried to pry himself off the chair, twisting Tim's body in ways Jason was sure wasn't natural. But Dick had done just as good a job in keeping the boy in one place.

"Now listen both of you!" Dick tried to get their attention.

"Grayson remove Drake before he soils my body any further!"

"And how do you expect him to do that?" Tim growled, "Why do you think we're tied up?"

_Man it's weird seeing Damian thinking so rationally, _Jason thought as he watched both younger boys struggling against their bonds.

"Listen." Dick was trying to bring back order, "nothing will be solved until we all settle down."

"Shut up Todd," Damian snarled.

"I'm Dick – Jason's currently there." Dick pointed straight at Jason, who was leaning against the wall wishing the scene before him would simply disappear.

"Naturally, he's probably the reason we're in this mess," Damian stated, which got Jason on his feet.

"This is all your fault!" Jason hissed pointing at Damian which was just weird since it was Tim's body he was snarling at. "If you hadn't gone chasing that stupid magician the—"

"I had a mission I was carrying out!"

"We wouldn't have had to bail your butt out—"

"Drake slipped up—"

"And we wouldn't be forced to hang around each other!" Jason finished gripping the edge of the bed. Dick stared at him. Of course that's what Jason would be worried about the most.

All the while he was watching as what little control he had was quickly escaping through the open window. Tim however, was simply processing the news. He wasn't taking it too well.

"Damian is_ in_ my_ body_. Oh dear Lord, someone shoot me now!"

"Shoot you?" Damian (in Tim's body) pulled against the rope, almost snapping the chair in the process. "I have an unworthy invalid residing in my body—"

"And I have a dimwitted demon spawn in mine!" Tim (in Damian's body) shot back.

"You two cut it out." Dick pleaded.

Jason was getting annoyed. A headache was adding to the fatigue and all he wanted to do was sleep and forget this whole nonsense.

"We were trying to save your life, you brat." Tim snapped, "I should have known something like this would happen with you—"

"With me? I was doing just fine on my own till _you _ruined it and—"

"ENOUGH!"

It was weird for Jason to hear those words come out with such ferocity, even if it was him who spoke. _Who knew I could make Dick sound like Batman?_

Just then the door opened. Alfred walked into the room and paused, taking in the scene before him.

Jason and Dick were standing, Damian (or his body at any rate) was tied to the bed, and Tim tied to a chair, all four looking at him as if he just sentenced them all to death, even though he hadn't opened his mouth.

"Ah, here you all are, young masters. Master Bruce has just arrived home and wants an answer to the missing motorcycles from the Batcave, the files that were hacked, and the state of the medical cabinets. I surmise that you have an answer?"

None of the boys spoke. Then Tim (in Damian's body) groaned.

"Worst. Tuesday. Night. _Ever_."


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright guys here is chapter two! My goal is to update once a week (err that would be on Fridays) and I'm going to try my best to strive for that. Concerning this chapter: I wanted to jump straight into the action but it kind of wrote itself…insisting some explanation had to be given first. Sigh. The next chapters will pick up the pace – promise! Please R&R **

**Disclaimer: Nope, not the owner of any of these characters.**

Bruce sat, staring at the papers in his hands, going over the results for the 15th time. The only sound in the cave were the bats fluttering around, but that was then interrupted by the youngest boy.

"Well?" Damian (in Tim's body) stared at him intently. The older boys were waiting eagerly, and also losing patience

_First time they're all in one room without arguing for a whole hour. Figured it would take such a…unsettling situation to get there. _

"Bruce?" Dick got his attention. The older man's eyes lingered for a second more on Jason's eyes…knowing it wasn't his second eldest but recalling a time those eyes had looked at him so eagerly. They were painful memories and he tore himself away.

"…I need to call Zatara."

This was obviously not the news the boys wanted to hear.

"Wait why?" Dick demanded, now standing up from a chair he had pulled over.

"The great detective can't figure it out?" Jason growled, earning a strange look from both Tim and Alfred, who stood off in the corner waiting.

When the boys had discussed keeping this a secret, they already had excluded Bruce and their trusted butler. First it would make no sense to try and hide something of this magnitude from Batman, not to mention they couldn't solve it without his help. Alfred was always included, but that was it. No one else.

"Father, why must we involve others in this?" Damian asked sounding slightly concerned.

Bruce waited patiently, uncharacteristically understanding. _This is weirdest for them…_His eyes flickered back to Jason but then he steeled himself. _Don't let this effect you. Not now._

"I have to call in Zatara," he began again when things had quieted down, "because there is absolutely nothing abnormal in these tests. In fact, I can't find any problems with any of the brain scans, blood tests, or physicals. Whatever happened took a high level of magic, and it would take a lot less time and less aggravation if Zatara comes in." He looked sternly at the four boys, who said nothing. "I told him this was confidential, and I trust him to keep this a secret."

That did bring some comfort. After all, Batman didn't have a reputation of being betrayed.

"It makes sense." Tim agreed grudgingly, and for a second Bruce wished Damian could actually answer like that when it was he in his own body.

"How long will it take him?" Dick asked. Bruce only glanced at him.

"He's on his way now…ETA two minutes."

XxXxXxXx

The boys sat tensly, each ignoring the other while they waited for the magician to arrive. Bruce was typing away at his keyboard and Alfred had gone back up to the manor to make some tea.

"…At least he took the news pretty well." Dick broke the silence quietly, not wanting to disturb their father.

Jason (in Dick's body) raised an eyebrow.

"Which part? The part where he found out Demon Spawn took off on his own to track an unknown source of energy, and that you dragged the rest of us after him, or the part where we got switched?"

"I didn't drag you guys." Dick rolled his eyes. Jason had to turn away, still feeling uncomfortable seeing his face being controlled by…not him.

"I had everything under control." Damian gritted. Again a strange sight, as Jason had never seen the replacement look so angry. Except now, but Damian's face just seemed to be made to look angry.

"Did you now?" Tim asked, "Then why is it that if I hadn't grabbed you when I did, you would probably be dead instead of…alive?"

They had explained the whole situation to Batman not two hours ago, and yet here they were bringing back the story.

"I wasn't aware the magical energy was going to explode." Damian countered.

"Which is why you shouldn't have gone out alone." Tim countered just as Jason said,

"Really? And what did you think the pulsing light meant?"

"Boys enough." Dick cut in, his voice gruffer than normal, but then, that was to be expected given the circumstances.

Seeing the older boy in his body, Jason wondered what would have happened if things had been changed slightly. If instead of him and Dick opening the skylight and Tim slipping inside to grab the Brat, if Dick went. Then would that mean he and Tim would have been switched? But then Dick and Damian would be…he shook his head. Things were upside down and weird, but he just realized it could have been worse.

_Why did I have to be on patrol tonight? And why did it have to happen in my territory so obviously I would run into them?_ He lamented to himself.

"He's here." Bruce's voice interrupted their bickering and they watched was the caped crusader walked over to meet a now appearing magician, after Batman had allowed him to teleport himself into the cave.

"Have you realized he doesn't look at any of us for longer than a split second?" Tim asked quietly, as they got ready to follow their mentor.

"This must be the strangest situation he's had to deal with in a while." Dick said, again rubbing his left shoulder.

"That had better not be a bad injury." Jason growled,

"You're the one who fell on it!" Dick hissed back.

"Ah hello boys." The accented voice of the magician assured that a second argument was not about to start up. "Batman called me in saying he had a predicament that included the four of you?" Right to the point.

"Yeah, you could say that." Jason stated, sarcasm pretty much dripping off of his words. The magician blinked, unaccustomed to Dick speaking so harshly.

"Well you see." Dick threw Jason a warning glare, "we're in a bit of a tight situation."

Zatara simply stared at the two boys confused.

Damian rolled his eyes.

"Morons, how are we supposed to fool everyone else if you can't even act like each other? Grayson, stop sounding so worried, and Todd, quit being an idiot."

By that point Zatara was putting some of the pieces together.

"Good job Damian," Tim chirped in with false excitement. "Cause you sounded just like me there!"

"They've been swapped." Zatara stated, looking at Batman for confirmation.

"Yes."

"…ah." The expression that passed over the magician's face wasn't very comforting.

"Can you help us?" Dick asked, looking back at the older gentleman, who seemed lost in thought.

"This is…rather peculiar." He said walking around the four boys, as if looking over a project, his eyes searching for things unseen. The boys didn't move, however much they disliked being observed. After all, they were far more uncomfortable in their current situation.

"I am going to use a few spells to try and find the origin of the magic." The magician informed them all after a few minutes, but only proceeded when Batman gave a slight nod.

Jason sighed, but other than that remained silent as the older gentleman closed his eyes and recited a few incantations.

This happened for the better part of the next hour. Using his magic he searched them individually, as a group, or as pairs. Other than slight tingling or chills, the boys experienced nothing.

After a while Zatara pulled back and stared at them thoughtfully.

"Well?" Batman's question seemed to pull Zatara out of his trance. He glanced at the vigilantes and gave a shrug of irritation.

"I cannot find it." He stated simply, but held up a hand when Damian and Jason (who were in Tim's and Dick's bodies) opened their mouths. "That doesn't mean I am completely without information. Just that I cannot find the origin of this spell. Whoever cast it is trained in a very high level of magic."

"Higher than you?" Batman asked. If he was shocked by the news it wasn't noticeable.

"No, but…potentially as good." Came the reluctant reply.

"Can't you try something to switch us back?" Jason finally snapped, but the magician was shaking his head.

"You have to understand, I haven't seen a situation like this before. While there have been swapping of bodies, it has never happened twice in one spot or to a group in which there are no metas." He said solemnly, excepting tea from Alfred who had just appeared.

"So you're saying that this has never happened to two people who didn't have superpowers?" Tim asked incredulous.

"Oh it's happened. It just had…disastrous results." That didn't help the mood. "If I were to try anything to reverse the spell without having sufficient information on how it was cast, then I am afraid I would cause irreversible damage."

"…so what do we do now?" Dick asked.

"We gather information, just like we always do." Batman intervened. He turned to their guest. "Thank you for dropping by and assessing the problem. I'll be in contact soon."

Zatara took that as his signal to leave, and did so with a firm handshake with Batman and a sympathetic nod to the boys. As soon as he vanished the boys were in full swing.

"I can't be stuck like this for another hour, much less who knows when." Jason growled.

"You think you have it bad? I have school on Monday!" Tim snapped. "How can I go, like this?" He gestured up and down to the body he was occupying.

"School? Try work." Dick groaned.

"At least none of you are stuck in the body of a dweeb." Damian stated, which earned him a nasty glare from Tim.

"And whose fault is this again?"

"Enough." There was no volume in his voice, but then, there didn't need to be. The low growl was enough to silence them once more. "Right now you will go upstairs, shower, and have Alfred tend to your injuries. Then you will go to bed and have a full night's sleep."

There was a stunned silence.

"Bruce," Dick spoke up. "How exactly do you expect us to get sleep?"

"I expect you to get sleep because starting tomorrow you are all to undertake rigorous training."

"What?" Jason asked incredulous. "I'm not staying here! I was dragged into this because it happened to take place in my territory!"

"And how exactly are you going to manage this situation?" Bruce asked calmly, looking at him from where he resumed his position in front of the computer. "All of you are unaccustomed to the bodies you're in. Your balance, perception, flexibility and speed, amongst other things are completely thrown off. You can't fight in the state you're in. And until we find out who's behind this, you will train to be proficient in self-defense. Am I clear?"

No one said anything.

"Good. Now go upstairs."

The boys went, though none too happy, and Bruce was glad of it. He wasn't sure how much more he could take, seeing them swapped was harder on him than he thought it would be. Pulling off his cowl he rubbed his face, feeling the exhaustion fall in. The amount of times Jason had looked at him tonight…_Dick. It was Dick. _He steeled himself again, and focused on the screen.

"Sir?" Alfred appeared out of nowhere, as usual.

"Yes?"

"How are you?" A cup of tea was placed on the desk next to him. He glanced up, catching the watchful eye of his butler.

"It's…strange Alfred." He shook his head. "How about you?"

"There have always been strange situations Master Bruce, ever since you started this crusade, and while this one might be the queirest of them all, I feel it will do some good in the end."

Bruce looked at the older man suspiciously, but said nothing as he focused once again on the screen in front of him, his fingers flying over the keypad.

"And what are you doing if I might ask? I think you should consider retiring early yourself sir. This seems to have taken a toll on you as well." The tone was light, but Bruce could see the seriousness in his eyes. Alfred never missed anything.

"Not now Alfred. I'm already hours behind whoever did this."

"And you plan on finding him with what information Sir? Zatara himself couldn't find the source."

"True, but he gave me all the information I need to start tracking him down." Bruce was already staring intently at the screen has his hands flew across the keyboard. Alfred stood in the shadows watching.

"And that would be?"

"A magician who can mask his source from Zatara is extremely powerful…and there aren't many out there. I've already narrowed the search."

Profiles of different magicians started to fill the screen, being pulled from a database conveniently prepared years ago, and maintained consistently. Other superhero's considered Batman paranoid, but his contingencies and preparations were how he managed to get so far ahead on cases before the other leaguers.

"And you believe you can find this…person without the help of Zatara?" Alfred asked.

Bruce didn't respond, but the smallest trace of a grin that graced his lips, and the hard glint that shown in his eyes, answered the butler's question.

**Alright folks, I promise the next chapter will focus entirely on the boys! The drama and humor will now commence X) Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey everyone! Ok so I shot myself in the foot when I mentioned I would be posting every week…however, I have some pretty good excuses X) my laptop erased my first draft, then my computer crashed, and my second re-write went with it. I'm now on my sister's laptop (she's amazing, btws) but it took me a while before I was calm enough to write this chapter…for a third time. So I apologize for the delay! I hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: Sadly I do not own any of these characters. *Cries***

Rubbing his shoulder in irritation, Dick found himself wanting nothing more than a hot bath and the escape of sleep. He was far too tired to try to wrap his mind around their latest problem, and he couldn't bring himself to see how his younger brothers were coping since he didn't even know how he was handling it himself.

Besides, Alfred has issued an order for the younger boys to go to bed, and he was keeping a close eye on them. Bruce was still in the Batcave, and Jason was probably brooding in his room.

"A hot shower and a sleepless night." He said out loud, then he winced, decided to think in his head. At least his thoughts wouldn't sound like Jason's.

_Don't think about it. Tomorrow you can sleep all day and…work. _He groaned. He was supposed to be at the office early to go over some old case files. A sense of dread filled his stomach at the idea of Jason posing for him.

_Nope. Never. Ever. _He needed to find an excuse to get off of work. Like now. He glanced at the clock, it was only 7:30pm. His partner would still be in, as she had to stay late to file some paperwork.

Just then a beautifully perfect idea sprang into his head. The best excuse possible, and it was so simple.

Dick Grayson had mononucleosis. He was easily the biggest flirt in the BPD, and his co-workers had been pointing out that he was looking absolutely exhausted which was the perfect set up. They were right about him being exhausted of course, but that was due to the fact that he was dealing with a particularly difficult problem as Nightwing, the kind that involved a balloon making machine and bazookas. He shuddered at the memory.

They would easily buy the lie, and mono could get him off of work for a couple months if need be.

"Perfect." He said in a sinister voice as a smirk crossed his face. Then the smirk abruptly dropped as his voice came out a little _too _sinisterly.

"Perfect." He groaned. There was no way he could call the office. Jason's voice was nothing like his…which meant only one thing.

/\_/\

"You want me to _what_?" Jason growled in exasperation, glaring at the cell phone Dick was holding out to him.

"Just call Amy and tell her that results from the blood work you had gotten earlier just came in, and that you have mono. Sound exhausted, whine a bit, and that's it."

"That's it?" Jason drawled, and Dick shifted uncomfortably under the hard stare of his eyes, the ones that were being controlled by a man called a maniac by many around him. _Nothing like a tough situation to bring out the trust in family, _he thought sarcastically.

"Come on Jase." he pleaded, giving puppy dog eyes to his younger brother, making him visibly flinch.

"Stop doing that! It's downright degrading." Jason declared, and Dick smirked.

"So then make the phone call?" He asked, more normal this time. Jason rubbed his temple with one hand while snatching the phone with the other.

"Fine." He relented, "far easier than having to go in myself." But before he could hit the call button, Dick's hand covered the phone. "What the-"

"You can't just call them up!" Dick cut in hastily. "You have to practice first." Jason stared at him, a dangerous gleam in his eye.

"You want me to what?" He asked again.

"Practice! You have to make it sound authentic." Dick said earnestly. "Trust me Jase, I want this over and done with, but the last thing we need is the Bludhaven Police Department breathing down our backs with suspicion. I'm sending over documents that Alfred is forging right now, but you gotta make this sound real."

"I have your freaking voice!" Jason exploded. "How much more_ real_ am I supposed to get?" he asked in complete exasperation, as he ran a hand through his hair.

_So that's what I look like, _Dick though absentmindedly.

"Please? For the right inflection and tone? You know…don't sound like…like you're about to kill everyone." Dick offered him a small smile, but realized that wasn't helping when Jason glanced away. For a brief moment Dick wanted to reach out and give his brother a reassuring hug, but then remembered he would be hugging himself, and wasn't sure if he was ready for that yet.

Thankfully, Jason let out a long breath and growled out a 'fine.'

"But only twice. Then I make the bloody phone call and then we're done here." He growled. Dick nodded in agreement. Jason sighed.

"This is so stupid." He muttered before putting the phone next to his ear.

Ten minutes later, and the phone call successfully made, Jason left Dick's room, a list of colorful words clearly depicting what he thought of their little acting class.

Dick closed his eyes as he leaned against the bed, part of him wanting to just slip under the covers and sleep. But he forced himself up and towards his expansive bathroom. They had been treated for their injuries by Alfred not that long ago, but none of them had taken a shower since the incident happened, and that incident included them getting thrown against a brick wall and covered in dust and debris from the magical explosion.

Dick Grayson could tolerate many things, but going to bed dirty was not one of them. Not to mention he didn't know when Jason showered last.

As he ran the water and watched the steam fill the bathroom he contemplated how he was going to proceed. Not being in his own body clearly made this awkward, but there was no way around it. Finally he decided he was just going to take a shower like he normally would but would avoid mirrors until he was dressed again.

_Better to not make a big deal out of it._ He decided, knowing there were going to be plenty of other uncomfortable situations he was going to have to face. _This…really sucks. _He groaned inwardly. Then he shook his head. At least they were all ok. After all, apparently this had never worked out right between non meta-humans. The fact that all four of them came out functional, and all in one piece, was something to be happy about.

_Enough thinking Grayson._ He told himself before ducking into the shower.

He was expecting an almost unbearable heat to fall upon his skin as the water poured forth, but was shocked when instead he almost…couldn't feel the heat. He could definitely feel the water hitting his back in its powerful rhythmic pattern, and the steam around him was hot, but it was almost as if his skin wasn't catching the heat.

No wait…it was more like parts of his skin. He could feel the hot water on his lower left shoulder blade, his right rib cage more prominently, and on his right arm from his forearm to his elbow, as well as both his quads. It varied in temperature, but the more he concentrated the more he realized that indeed some parts of his body were capturing the heat of the water, and other parts weren't.

"What the heck is happening?" he said out loud, perplexity lacing his voice. Wait. Not his voice. Jason's. Jason's voice and Jason's body. He stood there, water hitting the back of his neck and shoulders, his hair falling over his eyes as confusion made room for revelation.

_The Lazarus pit, _he thought incredulously. Could it be a result of being brought back from the dead? Dick always knew that being resurrected had messed Jason up mentally (who wouldn't be?) but he never really thought about the physical effect.

_What else? What other secrets did Jason keep that we never knew about? What else affected him?_ Dick thought as he observed the hands that he controlled but that didn't belong to him. Then another thought occurred, far worse than the first one.

…_what secrets is he going to uncover about me? _Suddenly the severity of the situation hit him full force. There was no more hiding. The skeletons in the closets were going to be discovered. They were all raised and trained by the Batman, there's no way that the secrets they were all so careful to hide were going to stay hidden.

Dick calmly finished showering, got out, dried up and threw on a pair of Jason's shorts and shirt, curtesy of Alfred who had already swapped the clothing in the rooms. He sat down by his bed and grabbed the bottle of sleeping pills.

The directions called for one tablet a night. Dick took three. He'd had enough ugly surprises for one day, he did not need whatever dreams came with it.

Dick closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. It was going to be tough. There were situations that he knew were coming that would pull all of them out of their comfort zone. However, come hell or high water they would handle it.

Right now, he needed to trust his family more than ever. Because he knew that the one thing that could tear them apart was the very thing that made them who they were.

**A/N: So…what do you think? I know there is nothing cannon about Jason having physical problems from being resurrected, but I've always been curious about what side effects he would suffer from. Each boy will have their own problems that aren't cannon that will be focused on. Next chapter will! Leave your comments and suggestions below!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thank you so much for your comments, suggestions (they are taken into consideration!) and likes, they make my day **** So, to make up for the long gap of updates last time, I made this chapter a bit longer. I realize Damian and Tim might be a bit OOC but I'm trying to figure out how they would react in this situation. Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, swapped or not.**

Tim was currently transitioning from slightly irritated to extremely aggravated, and the change was happening faster than normal for the usually patient 17 year old. A 17-year-old who was occupying the body of a 12-year-old, which was the reason he was up at 2am hunched over his personal laptop in his closet, going against Batman's orders by hacking into the JLA system looking for any information on body swapping.

He was still unsuccessful in getting into Bruce's personal files (something he'd been trying to do for over a year now, just to see if he could) so he went to the next best source…but that was proving useless.

There only seemed to be redundant bits of news that noted strange cases of possession, nothing about actual body swaps, or more importantly, how to swap _back._

"Oh come on." He huffed as someone, probably Martian Manhunter, at the Watch Tower noticed the breach and was attempting to block him.

"If this is how they deal with hackers, Bruce has _got _to talk to them." The voice that came out of his mouth brought renewed irritation.

Tim easily maneuvered around the pitiful blocks, but then backed out of their system, having already searched the entire database without finding any useful clues.

"Just great," he hissed closing his laptop. He was tired, frustrated and nowhere closer to finding a solution.

_I need this fixed __**now, **_he thought with mild panic. The mere idea of having _Damian _in his body was enough to make him nauseous.

Tim liked – no, needed his privacy. The ability to withdraw from the world into himself when things got rough was something he always took for granted, but desperately need right now. Instead, he had the body of a demon spawn who had, on multiple occasions, tried to kill him.

Not only that, said demon spawn had _his _body. He felt helpless and vulnerable. A position he detested with a passion.

"This needs to stop." He muttered again, not remembering when he had wanted something this badly. Suddenly he froze, alert. Someone had just turned the doorknob.

Tim quietly closed his laptop and opened the closet door slowly. The lights were still off which meant it wasn't Alfred. Dick would have given him a warning that he was coming in, Jason wouldn't have bothered, definitely not at 2am, and Tim knew that Bruce had not yet returned from his mysterious outing…which only meant left one person.

"Drake." It wasn't the voice that nearly gave Tim a heart attack, it was the sudden image of his own face appearing in the dim light, an accusatory glare staring at him.

"Damian." Tim hissed, covering his shock with an angry tone of his own. "What are you doing in _my _bedroom?" he demanded.

Tim was thankful, and he knew Damian was as well, for the only light illuminating the room was coming from the moon that shown through the window. They could see each other's basic features, but no specific details. That allowed them to still argue with each other, without facing the real problem.

"You've been hacking into the JLA system." Damian stated.

"How…you were in the Batcave." Tim hissed. He knew Damian was smirking, even if he couldn't see it.

"Better than trying to figure it out on a laptop in your closet." Damian sneered and Tim rolled his eyes.

_And Bruce is going to kill you when he checks the hidden cameras he installed. _

"How did you know?" Tim redirected the topic, not feeling sympathetic enough to warn Damian of his upcoming fate. The little brat deserved it.

"Martian Manhunter contacted me via—"

"Contacted Batman—" Tim corrected, knowing Damian had accepted the call through text mode, so he could receive the message without anyone knowing he wasn't actually Batman.

"To bring awareness to an attack—"

"An intrusion—"

"And demand I bring the suspect to justice."

"And asked Batman to investigate." Tim corrected, having memorized Justice League procedure. Damian ignored the corrections.

"You have broken protocol by hacking into their system—"

"As have you for impersonating a founding member, lying to another member, and accepting an assignment that wasn't meant for you seeing as you are not a member yourself." Tim countered with ease.

They had both been whispering the entire time, to avoid any unwanted attention, and now they glared at each other as a blessed silence descended upon the room for a few moments.

"…have you acquired any information that might be remotely useful?" Another change of conversation. Tim's agitated sigh answered Damian's question.

"You?"

"If father has found any solid information concerning this situation it isn't on any files I could find."

Tim resisted the urge to groan. If the demon spawn was going to bother him, it would have been nice if had brought some sort of Intel with him.

"I don't believe we're going to find anything directly connected to the magic behind body swapping." Tim said in a whisper, and he knew Damian was rolling his eyes.

"Now I understand why Grayson calls you a genius." Drake retorted sarcastically. Tim ignored him.

"Bruce went out to meet with someone…someone he thinks can help." He continued slowly. Damian stayed quiet which meant his interest was piqued. "Did you find any information about where he went?" Tim asked.

"I looked but the results were inconclusive." The irritation in his voice told Tim that Damian had spent a considerable amount of time looking. Which meant whoever Batman went to meet, he didn't want to boys knowing. However, neither Tim nor Damian were the type to sit back and wait to hear about their fate. Tim knew Bruce wanted the information first to process it and figure out the best way to tell them, but with a situation like this, he needed to know everything as soon as possible.

He stayed silent for a moment, thinking.

"We need to get down to the Batcave." He said slowly. "How have you been avoiding Alfred all this time?"

"He comes in at regular intervals of forty two minutes. I make sure to return to my room seven minutes before. His next check in is in—"

"Five minutes." Tim finished.

"Correct."

"You need to get back to your room. It takes at least three minutes to regulate your heartbeat so he doesn't know you're awake."

"Tt. It takes a minute and a half." Damian corrected indignantly. "But for an incompetent fool like yourself, I can see why _you_ need the extra time."

"You're in my body." Tim grinded out, trying not to snap. "Double the time so you have room for error." Damian paused, clearly not having thought of that.

"Fine. After Pennyworth is gone, we wait eight minutes then meet at the stairwell."

"Twelve. It takes him a total of ten minutes to make his rounds. Add an extra two in case he's held up."

"Fine." Damian agreed. Tim watched as his own body silently left his room. He ignored the goose bumps on his arms, and silently crept into his bed. It wasn't until he was focusing on regulating his own heartbeat that he realized with utter shock that he'd had a completely civil and quite successful planning session with the brat.

It was then Tim realized that there was someone else who wanted this mess fixed just as much as he did.

/\_/\

Alfred had developed a keen ear over the years and was now able to identify the patterns of breathing for those who were asleep, versus those who were pretending.

It wasn't Bruce that he had to thank for this skill however, for the master of the mansion never bothered to try and fool Alfred. Either he was asleep or he wasn't. But rather, Dick Grayson was the cause of this.

When the Dick first became the Boy Wonder he continuously tried to trick the butler into believing he was asleep so he could slip into the Batcave and practice on the gymnasium set.

This skill proved itself invaluable with Jason, as the boy seemed to make it his mission to slip out on patrol when he wasn't supposed to.

Tim, however, picked up on Alfred's ability early on and learned and how fool him – only when necessary of course. Damian followed suit which was why Alfred would spend a bit more time in their rooms, making sure they were actually asleep.

Tonight Alfred stood in Tim's room, looking at the body of the youngest member knowing it was actually the conniving 17 year old he was looking at.

Alfred shook his head, deciding that with everything that happened, he would give the boy the benefit of the doubt, and left to continue his rounds.

Tim waited a full minute before sitting up in bed. He silently slipped out and pulled out his laptop. He would need to hack into the hidden cameras…he could do it, but he knew there was a 93% chance Bruce would notice, which is why he tended to stick to his laptop.

_Oh well._ He'd try. Besides what horrible punishment could Bruce possibly give them?

Five minutes later he was done, quickly changed into more practical clothes, slightly peeved when he pulled on some sweats and realized Damian was going to be his height in a year or two.

_On to more pressing matters, _he reminded himself.

Opening the door, he slipped out and quietly made his way to the stairwell. Damian was already there.

"Tt. Took you long enough Drake." Damian murmured, smirking at him.

"Keep your mouth shut till we get to the Batcave." Tim hissed back before slowly making his descent, Damian right behind him. He heard an indignant huff but nothing more. Even Damian knew better than to create unnecessary noise.

They reached the cave with no problem, Alfred either being in the kitchen or in bed. But just to be sure they did a sweep of the cave, and only when they returned butlerless they made their way to the computer.

"How exactly do you expect to find who father went to meet, when I searched the database thoroughly?" Damian demanded as Tim's fingers flew across the keyboard. Tim smirked slightly.

"Because while you might be competent on the computer, I've had far more years and practice with them." Tim answered distractedly. "Besides, I helped Bruce upgrade the main comp so I know how it runs."

Damian growled at this, and Tim knew the youngest was probably insanely jealous right now, but he ignored him and continued his work.

"I demand to know what you are doing." Damian spoke up again, and Tim resisted the urge to punch him. They had both been up for more than twenty hours and neither of them had attempted an assassination on the other. He could put up with a bad mood.

"I'm cross referencing the latest searches of skills or abilities made to all the profiles we have on the database. This situation is…unique, so Bruce would be searching for specific skills." He tried to simplify his actions so Damian wouldn't get frustrated with not understanding them.

"How?" The demand came again.

"Hard to explain." Tim murmured, intently focusing on the screen as he finished his program.

"There." He sat back. Damian looked between the computer screen and Tim, obviously trying to contain his anger. "Now I have to let the program run. We'll have our answer soon enough."

This was obviously not what Damian wanted to hear, but he just sulked over to another seat and sat down, ignoring Tim.

The elder of the two rubbed his eyes, finally feeling the exhaustion fall over him. He glanced over at Damian, who actually looked to be resting. _He could attack me if I'm not careful, _he thought grimly, then stopped.

No. Damian wouldn't think to attack him, because Tim had his body hostage. And Damian wanted it back just as much as Tim wanted his.

With that reassuring though he lay his head back and closed his eyes to rest. He'd hear the computer beep when the result was found.

/\_/\

"Wake up sleeping beauties." A voice laced in sarcasm jolted Tim awake. He looked wildly around, realizing he had fallen asleep in his chair. _Great,_ he frowned, looking around he saw Damian stirring. That's when the whole situation hit him again. He groaned, and a chuckle answered him.

"Yeah, this nightmare's still real." He spun to see Dick leaning against a wall, arms crossed and smirking at them. Oh, wait.

"Jason, what are you doing here?" He asked as he saw the older boy wearing sweats and a loose T. Dick's face morphed into a grin only Jason could wear.

"We have training in a few minutes and I wanted to avoid contact with our charming brother for as long as possible." Jason said, straight to the point without a hint of embarrassment. "What are you two doing sleeping so sweetly next to each other?"

"Keep your mouth shut Todd." Damian was coherent now. "What we are doing was is of your business." The youngest glared at Jason and Tim just hoped Damian wasn't somehow ruining his face with that scowl.

"Really?" Jason pushed off the wall and walked over till he was face to face with the brat, his expression unconvinced. "some deep secrets you two uncovering?" the question came out as a taunt. Damian scoffed.

"Even if it was, it wouldn't be something your half formed mind could comprehend."

"Too bad you lost the replacement's brain cells when you two swapped. Now there's absolutely nothing endearing about you." Jason said with a glance to the body Damian was occupying. Tim wasn't sure whether or not to be flattered or insulted.

"Jason enough." The voice sounded exhausted, and the three turned to see Dick, much bigger than he normally was, walking down the stairs. He was rubbing his head, and looking like he was trying to wake up.

"Grayson. You look terrible."

"Good to see you to Little D." Dick was the only one to smile. He seemed to have lost his shock from the day before, sauntering into the room with his usual swagger, despite the different body.

Tim's and Jason's' eyes met, and Jason rolled his skywards. Tim knew that Jason wasn't buying the whole 'I'm-now-cool-with-this' act that Dick was putting on, and something about how Jason was observing Dick was telling Tim there was something else Jason knew but wasn't letting on.

"Now we have to warm up. Bruce will be back soon, so unless you want him to know you fell asleep at the computer, I'd suggest you two quickly freshen up and stretch. We're going to have a rough day today." Dick said, running a hand through his hair as he sipped from the coffee cup he held in the other hand.

"Wait, did Alfred try to wake us up?" Tim asked, realizing it was seven in the morning and the butler most certainly had figured out they weren't in their beds.

Jason smirked.

"He knew you guys were down here. He asked me to wake you up gently. You can tell him how good of a boy I was." Tim wasn't sure if he was joking or not but it didn't matter. He had to get going.

Damian was already arguing with Dick about something to do with hair, and Jason went off to stretch, ignoring the rest of them. So Tim quickly turned back to the computer and woke it up.

The results were in. In front of him was a small file, barely enough information to really make it a file, but it had a name, profile picture and a description. He frowned looking over the information, eyes resting over the name.

_Jason Blood. _

**A/N: So there you have it. I know I'm playing around with the boys ages, so for clarification, Damian is 12, Tim is 16, Jason is 19 and Dick is 21. I realize that makes no sense with the timeline, but just humor me ;) The action is now about to begin! Please let me know what you think, or if you have any suggestions! **


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